The Aftermath
by IzaMel
Summary: BIG FAT SPOILERS FOR CoE. What happens after the end?
1. Prologue

**T O R C H W O O D**

Prologue

Captain Jack Harkness never changed. He always came back.

And Gwen knew this. She knew Jack would come back.

Besides, the service at the teleport station was lousy. He tried to teleport to another planet, maybe Judoo, to get a kick out of a chase, but the Phernopholatti would just sit around instead of giving him the energy to teleport.

Ianto had never left Jack's mind anyways. Maybe a visit would help him remember all the good times they had together. All the kisses, the naked hide and seek...

He arrived about three months later, about three days later, actually, if you're on the teleport station. Gwen was on her way to the hospital. Jack only knew this, of course, because Rhys answered the phone panicked. _Ah, yes, Gwen's pregnant. Forgot about that._

Jack ended up sitting next to Gwen, ignoring the slight stare from Rhys. He knew Gwen would be happy when she awoke. She would see him, smile, then look at Rhys and ask for the baby. Yeah. That's just how Gwen was. Sometimes.

A couple of hours had passed before Gwen finally woke up. Rhys had been pacing the room, worried that the medication she took had been too much, or that the doctor's were actually aliens that took over her soul and ate it for dinner. Torchwood fucks you up.

Jack looked at her, smiled, and glanced at Rhys. He was busy smiling at his wife, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. _Hm... If Ianto had longer hair, would I have done that?_

****"Jack, are you okay?" Gwen seemed concerned.

"I'm fine, why?" Jack just smiled.

"You're eyes... They're getting all teared up."

Jack closed his eyes. He was thinking of Ianto, and had almost cried. "Oh. Sorry." He stood, and smiled at Gwen. "Glad you're okay."

With that, he began to leave. He needed to see Ianto. Or, what was dedicated to him, a few feet above his body.

"Jack, wait!" Gwen tried to sit up. Rhys, being the loyal husband, helped her. A doctor had just come in, to check on her. "Oh, you're awake!"

Jack left, Gwen needed to speak to the doctor, not him. There was nothing for her to say.

About a week later, Jack had gotten himself a nice little flat, cheap. Lounging around wasn't something the former Torchwood leader had ever really gotten used to. There was always something to do back then.

Not a moment after Jack had sat down, there was a knock at the door. He got up, and, of course, opened it. Gwen.

"Jack, I need to talk to you." She said hastily.

"No, you need to rest."

Gwen had this look on her face. "Jack, it's important." She seemed pretty serious.

"Alright, alright, go sit down." He opened the door a bit wider, to let her in. She did as she was told and did not waste a minute after Jack had closed the door.

"Jack, it's Ianto. I keep thinking about him. Everyone I look at looks a bit like him." _Yeah, I know how you feel._ "Plus, the coffee is just.. Disgusting now." Jack couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Jack, you have to believe me when I tell you this. I'm serious. I saw a man, standing near the Roald Dahl Plass. He looked lost, and familiar." Gwen took a moment.

"Jack, it was Ianto."


	2. Chapter 1

**T O R C H W O O D**

**Chapter One**

It's times like this when Jack wished he had put a tracker in Ianto's jacket or something. It always made things like this easier. He needed to find this so-called Ianto imposter. Ianto was dead, wasn't he? So why had Gwen seen him standing near the Roald Dahl Plass? _It couldn't actually be Ianto... Could it?_

Jack wished it was Ianto. He wished that he would see him, standing in the Tourist Office, waiting for him. He'd smile and say, "I'm back." or "I missed you." He'd be there. He'd offer a game of naked hide and seek. He'd laugh when Jack said he thought he was dead.

The Tourist Office had been destroyed in the explosion, though. It was gone. So was the Hub. All the Weevils, and Myfanwy... Poor Myfanwy...

Jack reached the Roald Dahl Plass. Children were playing, people were sitting around, eating chips. _No Ianto. Crap._

_ I need to find him... I need to know if it's really him..._

"Excuse me?" _MANLY WELSH ACCENT._

Jack spun around, and was only disappointed to see nothing but a stranger. "Yeah?"

The stranger looked at him, slight confusion on his face. "Do you know how to get to the Tourist Office from here? Abigail told me it was near the docks, but I can't find it."

Slight hope formed. People still knew about the Tourist Office. Was it rebuilt without him knowing? What had happened in three months? "I don't know if it's where I think it is, but follow me." Jack didn't smile nor frown. He just turned and headed to where the entrance to the Hub had been located. _Please be there..._

The Tourist Office! It's there! Jack chuckled at himself, for doubting himself. He's Captain Jack Harkness, he's always right. "There." Jack pointed, and the Welshman went strolling off. Jack wasn't going to follow immediately, that would look suspicious, no?

A while later, Jack opened the door to the Tourist Office. It all looked the same, except the beads that hung over the employee's door were gone. A memory of Ianto walking through, smiling at him, flashed by. Jack shrugged it out of his mind's path.

He looked around a moment, wondering where the man from earlier had gone. Curious, Jack looked around the corner of the desk, searching for the button that opened the door to the Hub. _Not there..._

Jack continued his search, hoping in vain that he would find the button. He wanted to see the Hub, he needed to see Torchwood Three. He needed Tosh and Owen back, and for Gwen to be there by him, helping in the search. He needed Ianto, and his magnificent coffee.

Only about a minute after Jack had replaced the framed painting on the wall, a familiar Welshman walked through the employee's door. Jack turned, and almost fell to the floor in pure bliss.

_Ianto._

"Can I help you?" He had the same old smile.

"Ianto?" Jack needed to know. Is this him?

"Yes...?" Ianto furrowed his brows. "Can I help you?"

Jack didn't respond, just quickly stepped close and wrapped his arms around the Welshman, holding him close. He didn't care the Ianto was struggling to get away, he didn't care at all. All he cared about was that Ianto, his Ianto, was alive and well, in his arms.

"Let go of me! What the hell are you doing?" Ianto finally succeeded in pushing himself away from Jack.

"Ianto...?" Jack was caught off guard. Ianto would've hugged him back. Or, at least not get mad that he had held him.

"How do you know my name? Who the hell are you?" Ianto seemed pretty ticked off. Unusual.

"... Did you hit your head on the tombstone getting out of that grave of yours? Or did you get retcon'd?" Why didn't Ianto remember him?

"Who are you?" Ianto's cool facade was back, but he still seemed apprehensive, as if Jack was going to jump him.

Jack took a moment. "Captain Jack Harkness. Former leader of Torchwood three."

"You worked for Torchwood?" Ah, yes, the calm Ianto. Apprehensiveness was gone. Just Ianto, now.

"That I did. It was me, Gwen, Toshiko, Owen... And you."

Ianto blinked a few times, a slight furrow to his brow once again. "I worked for Torchwood one. Not three."

"Listen, Yan. You've apparently had some retcon. I'm not surprised you don't remember me, but at least you remember Torchwood. Station three was set up here. That wall there," Jack nodded towards the right side wall, "is where the front entrance was. A button was on the desk there."

"Why'd you call me 'Yan'?" Jack saw Ianto's hand move under the desk top.

Jack smirked. "That's what I used to call you. I'd say 'Oh, Yan, your coffee's the best', or 'Wow, Yan, you're pretty loud.'" Ianto blushed at that last part.

"Pretty loud?"

Another smirk was shown on Jack's face. "We had some interesting escapades in the Hub." Ianto looked the other way.

"Go." Ianto said, glancing at the right side wall. Jack turned and watched the entrance open up. "It's still there? The Hub was blasted. I should know, I was in it." He laughed.

"Your friend, Gwen, had it rebuilt. Her and her husband did it. All the technology's not installed yet though." Ianto wasn't looking at him.

"Come with me, Yan. Let's go look at what they did." Jack didn't wait for a response, he just grabbed Ianto's hand and took him down the corridor, to the elevator. Ianto was right, it wasn't all the same. It was wood instead of metal, and the elevator was pretty standard. When they reached the bottom, Jack burst into a smile. Gwen and Rhys had done this? _It's fantastic_!

He tugged Ianto along, to the stairs. He went up, to get a full view of the Hub. Gwen and Rhys couldn't have done this by themselves. They obviously had help. It was very old fashioned, just the way he liked it, but very safe. They definitely had help, the lift was fixed! The computers weren't high tech, like they had been, but they were the best that Gwen and Rhys could get, and he was so grateful. _Why had they gone through all the trouble?_

"Wait right here. I got to call Gwen." Jack let go of Ianto's hand, and pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket, dialing the number.

_"Hello?"_ said the somewhat Scottish accent on the line.

"Rhys, it's Jack. Let me talk to Gwen."

A couple moments later, Gwen had the phone. _"Jack! Did you find him?"_

"Yeah, he was in the Tourist Office."

_"Ah. Did he show you what Rhys and I did?"_

"Gwen, you're amazing. Why'd you do it?"

_"Thought you'd like it. It'd make you have a reason to stay, should you ever come back. We did it for you, Jack."_

Jack sighed. "Gwen, you were pregnant. You shouldn't have been working so hard."

_"Jack, would you stop it with the 'You were pregnant!'? I know I was pregnant. And it wasn't just Rhys and I. We had help from some workers that promised to keep it secret as long as I didn't shoot them."_

"Gwen! You can't force people to work for you, that's slavery."

_"I'm joking, Jack. I retcon'd them afterwards, in the water I gave them."_

"Good girl, Gwen. Well... You'll have to come by sometime. But not now. Gotta refresh Ianto on Torchwood three escapades."

_"Alright, you nympho. Have fun."_

"I'm not a nympho, Gwen."

Gwen laughed, then hung up. Jack turned to Ianto, who was looking over the railing at the new Hub.

"It's so big..."

Jack _had_ to laugh at that. He just _had_ to. This laugh confused Ianto, but he didn't say anything.

"So, Yan... I missed you." Jack grabbed Ianto's hand again, and pulled him into a hug. He nuzzled his nose into Ianto's hair, taking in the scent. He didn't want to let him go.

"Ianto, you've obviously been retcon'd... We have to refresh your memory... But I don't even know how you're even alive! The 456 poisoned us, and we died..."

"Then how are _you_ alive?"

"I can't die. People keep trying, and it just never works out."

"Why can't you die?"

"Something happened to me a while back, this girl gave life, and... Long story." Jack chuckled.

Ianto was silent, and then sighed. "I don't remember dying."

"I know. That's what retcon does. It makes you forget recent events. But you died about nine months ago... So why are you here now? The Resurrection Gauntlet wasn't used, or as you liked to call it, 'The Risen Mitten'." Jack laughed. "I guess it was recent to you. But... How much did you take? One retcon wouldn't be strong enough to have you forget working for Torchwood three..."

"Is retcon little white pills? Circular?" Ianto asked.

"Yeah... How many did you have?"

"Three. I thought they were pain medication... And I passed out. When I woke up, I thought they had been sleep pills or something. Not amnesia pills."

_Oh, Yan... _"Ianto, if the pills aren't in a container with a label, you shouldn't take them." Jack laughed, then frowned. "Wait... How do you remember what they looked like? Or that you even took them?"

"I had more in my pocket. Figured that's what made me fall asleep. I threw them away."

"Good boy." Jack kissed his forehead. "Tomorrow, Gwen and the baby'll come over, and we'll figure out exactly what's keeping you alive. Until then... What do you want to do?"

"Tell me about my life in Torchwood three."

Hours passed, Jack and Ianto still talking. Jack was telling him all about their relationship, about everything they faced, about Ianto's death, about how upset his sister had been. Just everything. Ianto wanted it all. They talked into the early hours of morning, until the Welshman fell asleep, leaning on Jack's shoulder.

It wasn't until after Ianto had been placed in Jack's bed that Myfanwy let out a screech, making Jack smile. She flew out the lift, while Jack had been kissing Ianto goodbye. _She's a good pterodactyl._

Eventually, Jack fell asleep, laying next to Ianto, smiling.


End file.
